If you’re passionate about beauty and have an entrepreneurial spirit, you may have spent some time thinking about starting your own beauty salon or business. But do you know where to start?
4 Tips for Starting Your Business
There’s a difference between being passionate about something and being able to make a business out of your passion. In order to do the latter, you must have some business acumen.
Having business acumen doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve started a business before. It does, however, mean that you’ve done your research and have a basic plan for how you’ll tackle the various issues, challenges, and processes you’ll encounter during the startup and growth phases.
The beauty industry is booming right now. If you have an eye for what people like and some transferrable skills, there’s money to be made in this space. But don’t go into this process foolishly thinking that you can “wing it.” Starting a business of any size is a rigorous endeavor and you’ll experience your fair share of growing pains.
Here are some tips to get you thinking about this challenge in the appropriate frame of mind.
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Establish a Business Plan
A business plan is a guide or roadmap for your business that outlines specific goals and provides steps for how you’ll accomplish these goals. Not only does this plan help you organize your thoughts, but it also provides a documented formula that can be given to prospective lenders or business partners to convey your idea.
Everyone writes business plans differently. There’s no single framework or standardized form. However, certain approaches are better than others. Entrepreneur Noah Parsons has three rules for writing a business plan:
- Keep it short. If your business plan is hundreds of pages long, nobody is going to read it – including you. You want your business plan to be a practical resource, so keep it as brief as possible (while still including specific, concrete information).
- Know your audience. Are you writing your business plan strictly for your own reference, or will it be used to (hopefully) obtain funding? For best results, tailor your writing to the audience.
- Don’t be intimidated. Writing a business plan can seem like an insurmountable challenge, but it’s just one step in the process of launching a business. Take a deep breath and relax.
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Establish Relationships
It’s hard to build a successful business on your own. You’ll almost certainly need some healthy partnerships to get your salon up and running.
Specifically, you’ll need quality products that you can use in the salon and sell to customers for in-home use. Be on the lookout for products that are high in quality (not necessarily those that are cheapest). Gloss & Co nail polishes are a great example. In addition to being beautiful and simple to use, they contain fewer toxins and harmful chemicals. This makes them ideal for both salon use and personal customers.
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Develop a Unique Brand
By one estimation, there are 974,000 salons across the United States. On the positive side, this means there’s high demand in the beauty industry. But it also means there’s a serious need for brand differentiation. When you first open any sort of business, Business cover is so important as it gives that assurance in case anything does go wrong.
It’s wise to have a well-developed branding position prior to launch with the help of Deuce Studio. And this requires more than just coming up with a logo and slogan. You need to understand your brand voice, who your target clients are, and what makes you different from the salon across the street.
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Keep Customers Happy
It takes a lot of effort to get a client to walk through your doors. The last thing you can afford is to lose customers once you earn their business. Repeat clients are far more cost-effective than new ones, so give your full focus and attention to customer satisfaction.
Stop Planning and Start Doing
If you genuinely want to accomplish something in life, you have to take action. More specifically, you should stop trying and start training and executing. Success is found in the actions.
With the proper knowledge and strategic partnerships at hand, you can give your beauty business a try. You’ll experience some wins, suffer through some losses, and learn a lot along the way. Enjoy the ride!